True Love

So my nursing friends dared me to blog about true love. They have been arguing about it for weeks. I sit quietly during the discussion and see both points of view.

10 years ago, if you had asked me if I believed in true love, I would have said "No" So now you may ask yourself, "does she believe in it now?" My answer.......yes. Without a doubt true love does exist. I choose to argue my point in a list style.......

Examples of True Love

1. By far the biggest example of true love is the love experienced by a parent to a child. This is the kind of love that overwhelms your every emotion. The most amazing experience of birthing a child is that first glimpse you get of that little person that you have brought into the world. You cry, you laugh, you want to shout out the world the happiness that you are feeling. You put everything into caring for that person and most of the time get little, if any recognition from that person of the sacrifices and work that you are putting into their care. But you do it. And you love every minute of it and feel like you are the luckiest person in the world because you have this beautiful child to love and care for. Would I say that you immediately feel true love when you have your child? NO. True love is what develops for caring for that child, giving to them, getting to know them, and ultimately giving your whole self to them. The true love that a mother feels for their child makes them yearn for the success of their child and feel happiness with each accomplishment that they achieve. It is also experiencing deep and hurtful sorrow when they hurt and knowing that you would do ANYTHING to take that pain away from them. I would be willing to bet that not many mothers would reject taking the place of their child if their child was in danger. That is the true love of a mother.

2. True love of a spouse. This opens a whole new can of worms. Does true love exist in marriage? I believe that true love exists in every marriage that stays together. Marriage is a rollercoaster of ups and downs. It is easy to get off that coaster when you are having those down times and walk away but remembering that with every down there is an up makes most people stay on for the ride. True love in a marriage does not mean that you sit across the couch making googly eyes at each other, holding hands, and sharing sloppy kisses every chance you get. It means making the choice to share your life with a person and getting on that rollercoaster, holding on to one another and staying on for the ride. It is a matter of respect and constant giving and receiving. A marriage has to be a give and take. If you have one person that is constantly taking and never giving, it is not an equal balance. True love in a marriage is fighting but realizing that somethings are not worth fighting about. You have to pick and choose your battles and don't sweat the small stuff. Does true love exist for everyone in marriage? No. Not everyone is finding true love from their marriage and they may need to step back and re-evaluate priorities. I know that it isn't always this easy but bottom line, I feel that to have true love in a marriage you MUST have respect for one another.

3. And now my spiritual argument on true love. The greatest example of true love is the example that Jesus Christ gave to us. He gave his life for us. Who could argue that his sacrifice was not true love? In John 15:13 it says "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus Christ gave his life for all of us and in return he only asks that we follow the commandments. I think of the love that Heavenly Father must have for all of us that he sent his only begotten son to suffer, bleed, and die for all of us and wonder as a parent, could I ever send one of my sons. Could I send one of my sons to be crucified the way that Christ was and knowing that only a small portion of those same people would appreciate or be thankful for the blessings received from my child dying?

Does true love exist? Yes, I believe that it does. I do not think it can only occur once in a lifetime nor that it may come and go away. That is my opinion on the matter and I hope it pleases all my nursing friends to hear my opinion. LOL,LOL